Mark Hamill has fans questioning why he’s charging a minimum of $400 for an autograph.
The 73-year-old actor, who’s most known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movie franchise, was recently revealed to be asking his fans to pay as much as $700 for one autograph.
In a recent post on Reddit, the user shared a sign sitting on a table at a FanExpo event, which highlighted that Hamill was charging $400 for an eight-by-10 autographed photo, $500 for a “premium” autograph, and $700 for a “bulky” autograph.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for Hamill for comment.
Many people were quick to turn to the comments section of the Reddit post, pointing out how steep the prices are and that they wouldn’t pay.
“I wouldn’t pay $400 for a meet and greet with my favorite celebrity, much less an autograph,” one Reddit commenter wrote, while another agreed, writing, “It’s absurd. I got a poster signed by the entire Scream cast for $200.”
“Love Mark, but gotta say I’ve lost a little respect for him for this. I know he’s not the only one, and people have to make a living, but come on,” a third person wrote in the comments.
However, other commenters pointed out various reasons why Hamill could have been charging large prices, whether that be to possibly prevent someone from selling the autograph at an even higher price, or to weed out any interactions with intense fans.
Some commenters even defended the price, writing that there are Star Wars fans who would likely still pay $400 for one autograph.
“Dude was OG Luke Skywalker. Star Wars fans of a certain age range will def pay that amount,” one person wrote. “And it’s not a concert or movie ticket where you are excluding people from the medium or event. He’s an older man who doesn’t want to write a thousand 40$ autographs.”
Despite Hamill’s recognition for his Star Wars role, he said last month that his late co-star Carrie Fisher once scolded him for leaving his breakthrough role out of his Broadway biography.
During an episode of NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, the prolific actor recalled Fisher attending one of his shows.
“And in the playbill, in my bio, I listed all my theater credits and at the end it said, ‘He’s also known for a series of popular space movies,’” Hamill remembered.
“And she goes, ‘What’s the deal? How come you don’t mention Star Wars?’ And I said, ‘Well, I want to show that I have a resume that includes extensive theater credits.’ And she said, ‘Hey, get over yourself. You’re Luke Skywalker. I’m Princess Leia. Embrace it.’”
He admitted that he “kind of saw what she meant, you know, because you say to yourself, ‘What territory do I occupy that no one else does?’ So she was someone that sort of put it in perspective for me.”
